Shane Long

[christo]

West Ham is a step down, they'll be languishing in the championship for a while I'd say

[BonnieShels]

With Christo here.

Come on Bayern, save us.

Him, Doyle and McGeady would be exactly the sort of players that would flourish in Germany.

[Yard of Pace]

With Christo here.

Come on Bayern, save us.

Him, Doyle and McGeady would be exactly the sort of players that would flourish in Germany.

I could see a situation where Bayern struggle for a few games at the start and Long spends a season on the bench. He's only 24, a team like WBA would be perfect right now.

[gastric]

The drama and the saga continue.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3731918/Leicester-fear-they-may-miss-out-on-Readings-Shane-Long-to-a-Premier-League-club.html

[gastric]

Yesterday Leicester, today it seems Long is going to WBA for 7m. Rumours from The Daily Mirror. I hope all this talk ends soon as it has to be very unsettling for Long.

[loscherland]

From F365 today...

Reading manager Heston Blumenthal has been discussing the future of Shane Long.

"I said in the week on the radio that we had had no interest from the Premier League, but that is not strictly the case," Blumenthal told getreading.com.

"We have had plenty of interest from the Premier League, but we have had no offer as yet. There has obviously been interest in the Championship from West Ham and Leicester too.

"What I expect, which generally happens, is that someone will make an offer and then you will get five or six Premier League clubs making bids.

"Hopefully they won't leave it too late if they want to do that."

[paul_oshea]

Whats that chef got to do with anything?

[SwanVsDalton]

Whats that chef got to do with anything?

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01360/The-Fat-Duck_1360480c.jpg

Reading manager Brian McDermott.

http://www4.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Brian+McDermott+Reading+v+Preston+North+End+tIMkA0 blZW_l.jpg

Celeb chef Heston Blumenthal.

[Sullivinho]

Yesterday Leicester, today it seems Long is going to WBA for 7m. Rumours from The Daily Mirror. I hope all this talk ends soon as it has to be very unsettling for Long.

I dunno, if I was a professional footballer and there were transfer rumours flying around about me I might get a wee kick out of that.

Then again, I'm not a footballer. And I struggle to be professional.

[SwanVsDalton]

This has sneaked under the radar a little. (http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2011/0808/longs_westbrom.html) Good move it true, think he'll combine well at West Brom.

[tetsujin1979]

Saw an interview with Roy Hodgson at the weekend where he said they were short up front and he was hoping to bring in someone before the season kicked off.

[IsMiseSean]

This has sneaked under the radar a little. (http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2011/0808/longs_westbrom.html) Good move it true, think he'll combine well at West Brom.

I hope this move goes through. Off all the clubs he's been linked to over the summer WBA will suit him best I reckon.

[Plastic Paddy]

I agree. Long impressed last season and looks well capable of stepping up a league. I think he'd combine well with Peter Odemwingie and a manager like Roy Hodgson will be good for developing his leadership skills too. Then he'll be ready for Celtic. ;)

:ball: PP

[tommy_c12000]

From Dan McDonnell's twitter:

"Shane Long missed Ireland training this morning as he was doing a medical with West Brom. Good move for him, in my opinion."

I would echo those sentiments. Very good move for him. WB doing well under Hodgson

[Sullivinho]

Guaranteed first team, premier league football under a very good manager. Not bad at all.

[BonnieShels]

Great move. Delighted that's all done and dusted.

[Sullivinho]

Interesting reversal of his recent Ireland fortunes on the cards too. Cox keeping him out of the side then and Shane (in all probability) about to return the favor at club level.

[elroy]

Wouldve loved to see him promoted with Reading but this is as near as next best thing. Good solid manager, team on the up, assured of plenty of action and not under a huge amount of pressure at the club.

[gastric]

It would be great to see Long and Cox form a solid partnership upfront - one can only dream!

[Closed Account]

It would be great to see Long and Cox form a solid partnership upfront - one can only dream!

Dirty.

[tetsujin1979]

Will Cork City receive any of the transfer fee as a bonus, seeing as how he was there as a youth player, or has he passed the age limit on this?

[SkStu]

compensation/solidarity payments to former clubs are not available for players who move after age 23 afaik.

[Charlie Darwin]

As far as I know they never stop. Zlatan Ibrahimovic's first club got a big chunk of his transfer to Barcelona: http://www.goal.com/en/news/596/exclusive/2009/12/21/1702065/exclusive-fbk-balkan-to-receive-144000-fifa-solidarity

[Philly]

Does the Cork City that sold Long actually exist any more?

[Charlie Darwin]

Yep, the supporter-owned club inherited all of Cork City's history.

[BonnieShels]

Did they inherit just their soccer history or the rights, assets and liabilities of arkaga it whatever that yoke was called?

[Charlie Darwin]

No, the company itself was liquidated but had already sold the name and rights to the supporters' trust.

[SkStu]

As far as I know they never stop. Zlatan Ibrahimovic's first club got a big chunk of his transfer to Barcelona: http://www.goal.com/en/news/596/exclusive/2009/12/21/1702065/exclusive-fbk-balkan-to-receive-144000-fifa-solidarity

you could very well be right Charlie. I wasnt 100%. On reflection it must be the Training Compensation payments that stop at 23.

[tetsujin1979]

Long time coming for Albion target: http://www.expressandstar.com/sport/west-bromwich-albion-fc/2011/08/09/long-time-coming-for-albion-target/
A fan's opinion of the signing of Shane Long (written before the deal was completed)

[Sullivinho]

A goal against the champions on his first day at work. Good man Shane.

[EastTerracer]

Dodgy goalkeeping but great start for Shane. Thrilled for him.

[tetsujin1979]

Get in, Shane Long! That keeper's looking dodgy from long shots.
good thing United have Gibson in their own ranks!

[tricky_colour]

Heard on the radio it was a mistake by the keeper but I have not seen it yet, will check out youtube lol.

[Noelys Guitar]

Great to see him score. Will give him a huge confidence boost. Wouldn't be surprised to see him get a second in this game.

[tricky_colour]

[edit - video removed as expected ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb4AXKnztSM

Weird goal, the keeper did not see able to get down quick enough, looks different from different angles, bot
sure if it is fair to put it down as a mistake by the keeper but he hardly covered himself in glory.

The will probably delete the video so be quick!!

[DannyInvincible]

Heard on the radio it was a mistake by the keeper but I have not seen it yet, will check out youtube lol.

It wasn't really a mistake by the keeper; people are making a big deal about it because all eyes are on De Gea to see how he starts at United. He just made a pretty lame effort at getting down to stop it but nothing too out of the ordinary. Long did very well to get a shot in and score from the angle.

[tricky_colour]

Yea I think it's always hard for a big keeper to get down to the ground quickly, afterall they have a *Long* way to go ;)
You can't fall faster than the law of gravity dictates so gotta give credit to Long for getting a quick low shot in.

[tricky_colour]

shame about the own goal from Reid, nothing he could do about that

[WexCar]

Goal here

http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/shane-long-manchester-united-15009485/

[BonnieShels]

Credited to Doyle on Errortel. God bless RTÉ.

[SwanVsDalton]

Great to see. Wouldn't underplay how poor the keeping was though - slow reaction, bad technique.

[tricky_colour]

I think the main problem is Shane gets in pretty close with a quick shot, it is hard for the keeper to get down quick enough.
I even did the maths (I was bored) assuming the centre of gravity of the keeper is 1 meter high it takes him 0.44 seconds to
get to the ground. Only takes about 0.2 seconds for the shot to reach the net. Mind you, he should be able to get a hand to it quick
enough so that was a pointless exercise lol.
I think the problem is the shot seems to dip viciously and the keeper expects a much higher ball, but it is still poor keeping,
I can't see Shay Given missing that one!!

[SwanVsDalton]

I uploaded the video to my Cliche-O-Meter and the resultant print-out said: 'You have to save those at that level.'

[tricky_colour]

Still great for Shane to be joint top of the premiership scorers table!!
(with 11 others including Stephen Ward).

[freewheel30]

Looks like the Brom player at the back post could have been in line for a tap in even if the keeper had managed to get down.

[SkStu]

Still great for Shane to be joint top of the premiership scorers table!!
(with 11 others including Stephen Ward).

and Wes Hoolahan.

All ex-LOI players.

[tricky_colour]

and Wes Hoolahan.

All ex-LOI players.

Yes I had a quick scan though the to list to make sure I had not missed
anyone out, I didn't do a a very good job!! Apologies to Wes for that!!

I remember thinking when I heard he scored that people will have to pay more
attention to him now, it seems I have a short memory!

[Colbert Report]

If there was no LOI these players would just head over to England straightaway and get discovered much earlier. Just think, if Kevin Doyle hadn't had to play for Cork City he would have just gone over and played for a League 2 team and would have been scouted much earlier. Time to get rid of the LOI, I was looking at the league table there yesterday and there's a team that has lost twenty matches in a row! What a joke, you'd never see that in the Premiership.

[Charlie Darwin]

Hey maybe Kevin Doyle didn't want to go to England at a much younger age!

[Colbert Report]

Yeah, because the greens of Ireland are filled with world class players who didn't want to leave their mammies at age fourteen to become professional footballers in England.